How NFL Teams Can Draft Replacements For Major Free-Agent Losses

With the first wave of free agency complete and most of the big-name veterans having signed megabucks contracts, it’s time for the teams who lost star players to contemplate how they’ll replace those players in the draft. (Note: All quotes are from the Scouting Combine.)

Pick No. 5: Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers lost impact linebacker Kwon Alexander to San Francisco with a four-year, $54 million deal – a monster number for a player coming off a torn ACL. Despite missing more than a full season’s worth of games in four seasons, Alexander recorded 380 tackles and six interceptions.

Replacement: LSU’s Devin White won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker in 2018 and had 256 tackles during his final two seasons. He was a team captain both of those seasons. With the speed of a wide receiver, he’s an elite prospect.

“It’s very important for me to be in the top inside linebacker in this draft. I feel like I put the work in, I showed it throughout my career, I progressed every year, I did everything right on and off the field as far as being a great guy, having that attitude, going to work every day and leading my team. That was the biggest thing. I was the leader of my team. I was named the team captain two years in a row, as a sophomore and a junior. I have been doing all the formal interviews and knocking them out of the park. I am just doing everything right.”

Pick No. 15: Washington.

The Redskins lost outside linebacker Preston Smith to the Packers with a four-year, $52 million contract. Smith started all 48 games the past three seasons and recorded 24.5 sacks in four seasons.

Replacement: Michigan’s Rashan Gary could be gone by this point because of his freaky combination of size (6-foot-4, 277 pounds) and speed (4.58 in the 40). The production wasn’t there, though, so maybe he’ll slide into range. In three seasons, Gary posted 9.5 sacks, 23 tackles for losses and one forced fumble. His best season came in 2017, when he had 5.5 sacks, 11.5 TFLs, 58 tackles and the forced fumble. He fits as an edge rusher with the ability to move inside on passing downs.

“That’s for you guys to decide,” he said about whether his production equates to being an early pick. “At the end of the day, I’m still working every day to be the best player I can, I know I’m capable of. The team that gets me, they’re going to see it. My best years of football are yet to come. I’m still learning the game and I can’t wait.”

Pick No. 18: Minnesota.

Former first-round pick Sheldon Richardson experienced a rebirth with Minnesota with his 4.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits. Of 106 interior defensive linemen with at least 160 rushes, Richardson ranked 17th in ProFootballFocus.com’s pass-rushing productivity metric. He signed a three-year, $37 million contract with Cleveland.

Replacement: Clemson’s Christian Wilkins capped a tremendous career by winning the Campbell Trophy – aka The Academic Heisman. In four seasons, he tallied 16 sacks, 40.5 tackles for losses, 192 tackles, two forced fumbles and an impressive 15 passes defensed. He earned his degree in just two-and-a-half years.

“I’ve had a lot of people – coaches, family, whoever – that emphasized it’s important to be more than just an athlete. You’ve got to be a well-rounded human being, a well-rounded person. That was something that was always very important to me. For that reason, I never found it challenging or hard to do what I had to do. My motivation in all that was, through this game, being able to use this platform to impact and influence people’s live. I feel it’s awesome to defy the odds. [Not] a typical dumb jock. I’m able to be successful on the field and also have great success in the classroom.”

North safety Nasir Adderley, of Delaware, returns an interception during the second half of the Senior Bowl college football game, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pick No. 21: Seattle.

All-Pro safety Earl Thomas signed a four-year, $55 million contract with Baltimore. In nine seasons, all with the Seahawks, Thomas has 28 interceptions, 67 passes defensed and 11 forced fumbles. A six-time Pro Bowler, his 2018 started with a holdout and ended with a broken leg.

Replacement: Thomas is a ballhawk and so is Delaware’s Nasir Adderley. The cousin of Pro Football Hall of Famer Herb Adderley, Nasir Adderley was the only player in the country with more than 160 tackles and nine interceptions over the past two seasons. That production came against FCS teams and not the nation’s big boys. His play at the Senior Bowl helped alleviate those concerns.

“I think that's something everyone wants to see coming from an FCS guy. Will he stack up against FBS competition? Why I'm so confident is because I feel the reason I wasn't at a FBS school was because of my mistakes. I struggled academically my freshman and sophomore year. That's something I'm not proud of in reflecting back. I know I could have done better because it's not like I'm not a smart kid or anything like that. I just didn't understand the importance when I was young. So, I just got a rude wake-up call my junior year.”

Pick No. 22: Baltimore.

The Ravens lost inside linebacker C.J. Mosley (five years, $85 million with the New York Jets) and outside linebackers Terrell Suggs (one year, $7 million with the Arizona Cardinals) and Za’Darius Smith (four years, $66 million with the Green Bay Packers. A fourth-round pick in 2015, Smith had a breakout 2018 with 8.5 sacks. In four seasons, he’s got 18.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. By Pro Football Focus metrics, he was one of the best pass rushers in the league last season. In 16 seasons, Suggs has 132.5 sacks and 33 forced fumbles. Even as his career winds down, he’s consistently put up good numbers, including 11 sacks and four forced fumbles in 2017 and seven sacks and one forced fumble in 2018.

Replacement: While Suggs and Smith are big, physical players, Florida State’s Brian Burns is a sleek pass rusher. Burns put up big numbers all three seasons, finishing his career with 24 sacks, 39.5 tackles for losses and seven forced fumbles. He played at 225 pounds at FSU; he put on 21 pounds for the Scouting Combine.

“I pretty much do a lot of my moves off of speed. I’ve got a lot of ways to win. I feel like I win inside, outside. I feel like I’ve got a lot of counters. And then I really want to work on my speed to power, that’s a big thing I’m working on. My long arms, that’s a thing I’m working on, I feel like that’s why I put on so much weight, to really cope with that. That side of my game.”

Pick No. 29: Kansas City.

In moving from their 3-4 scheme to a 4-3, the Chiefs dumped their premier pass-rushing tandem of Dee Ford (traded to San Francisco) and Justin Houston (released). Combined, they had 22 sacks and 12 forced fumbles (13 sacks and seven forced fumbles for Ford; nine sacks, five forced fumbles for Houston).

Replacement: Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell was the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American in 2018 with 11.5 sacks, 20 tackles for losses and three forced fumbles. In the process, he won the Ted Hendricks Award, which goes to the nation’s top defensive end.

“I just feel like my versatility is something that is very, very important when I feel like you talk about my game. I feel like that has always given me an edge as far as giving me a benefit on the field. Not only just my versatility as a player — I can play defensive end, I played some defensive tackle – I’ve also dropped into coverage, outside linebacker. But not only just doing those things, but I feel like I’ve done them at consistently a high level. That’s always given me a bit of confidence as far as my play. And I’ve done it against the best competition playing at Clemson, so that was a blessing, as well.”

Pick No. 31: L.A. Rams.

The Rams suffered a few big losses with safety Lamarcus Joyner (four years, $42 million with the Oakland Raiders) and guard Rodger Saffold (four years, $44 million with the Tennessee Titans) departing and high-priced defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh not expected to return.

Replacement: Mississippi State’s Jonathan Abram earned a bunch of All-American honors as a senior with 99 tackles, nine tackles for losses and two interceptions. Abram finished eighth in the SEC in tackles. He was tops in the SEC and third in the nation in total pressures among safeties (16), according to Pro Football Focus.

“I’m pretty much comfortable wherever you put me, down in the box, out in playing man-to-man in the slots or even at free, just roaming around back deep. Whatever works for you, I'm going to make it work for me.”

Pick No. 45: Atlanta.

A starter for the first time last year, running back Tevin Coleman had 800 rushing yards (4.8 average) and a career-high 32 receptions. Coleman turned 15.0 percent of his carries into 10-yard gains and averaged 2.91 yards after contact, two of the better figures in the league. He signed a two-year deal worth $10 million with San Francisco.

Replacement: Playing behind Saquon Barkley for his first two seasons at Penn State, Miles Sanders in 2018 rushed for 1,274 yards (5.8 average) and nine touchdowns and added 24 receptions for 139 yards to earn second-team all-Big Ten.

“I showed my ability to break tackles. That’s what Saquon did really well. I showed I can catch the ball smoothly, blocking, not making mental errors and protecting the quarterback. … Coming out of high school, I was a five-star recruit, highly recruited. I was expecting it to be a one-two punch type of situation when I got there. It obviously wasn’t that. But just learning from Saquon, picking his brain, how he thinks, how he learns, how he prepares for games helped me become a better player on and off the field.”

Pick No. 53: Philadelphia.

One of the best three-down linebackers in the league, Jordan Hicks had a career-high 91 tackles in 2018. Injuries have been the issue. He missed four games in 2018 with a calf, the final nine games of 2017 with an Achilles and the final eight games of 2015 with a torn pectoral. Still, he signed a four-year, $34 million contract with Arizona.

Replacement: During his two seasons as a starter, Alabama’s Mack Wilson had 105 tackles and six interceptions. In the linebacker class, the only prospects who might be more athletic are LSU’s Wilson and Michigan’s Devin Bush.

“The strength of my game is my ability to play any linebacker position and my ability to ability to run sideline to sideline. Cover tight ends, cover running backs, blitz, tackle. I feel I can do it all. That’s something I’m going to continue to work on and just continue to keep moving forward.”

Pick No. 64: New England.

The Patriots suffered a huge loss in free agency with defensive end Trey Flowers going to Detroit on a monster five-year, $90 million deal. A fourth-round pick in 2015, Flowers has 21 sacks and five forced fumbles the past three seasons, including career highs of 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles in 2018.

Replacement: With the cupboard emptied at No. 32 of the first round, the Patriots take a first-round talent at the end of the second round with Florida’s Jachai Polite. Polite took the SEC by storm in 2018 with his 11 sacks, 19.5 tackles for losses and six forced fumbles. He led the nation in forced fumbles, and was second in the SEC in TFLs. Polite’s dismal Scouting Combine, with teams drilling into his character, might take him out of first-round consideration. Coach Bill Belichick, however, values talent above all else, and Polite could give the Patriots an instant starter.

“They were really trying to get to know me, see what kind of dude I was. They’re not really talking about anything good right now. They want to know all the bad things about you, like character. … Them bashing me, that’s their job. They’re about to invest millions, I hope, in me. I have to take it. This is my job.”